Page 92 - Australian Defence Magazine October 2019

AUSTRALIAN CREWS
No company can match the operational excellence of a Teekay Australia crew. We employ more than three hundred highly-skilled Australian seafarers including 100 with Government security-clearance.
MANAGING AUSTRALIAN VESSELS
Whether it’s a commercial or government vessel, our ability to ‘sustain as we operate’ delivers the industry’s highest asset availability and capability.
CREATING AUSTRALIAN JOBS
Each year Teekay Australia spends more than $100 million fulfilling its Australian contracts, supporting more than
500 local companies and creating thousands of jobs.
Sydney | Perth | Cairns www.teekay.com/australia
PACIFIC
SUBMARINES
Challenges
Defence has only recently taken control of the issues underpinning submarine avail- ability; resolution of matters like spare parts management and continuity of shipyard loading in both SA and SA have brought the availability (and operational capability) of these world-leading Collins class submarines to a state even the best of their fans could only dreamt of less than 10 years ago.
The challenge faced by the Chief of Navy (CN) is how to maintain the growth in numbers of qualified submariners, how to retain those people, how maintain the avail- ability of the Collins class and how to avoid a gap in this capability in the transition pe- riod between the Collins and Attack class submarines. CN has already said that at least five of the Collins class will be extend- ed beyond their planned end of life and, in a deteriorating strategic environment, it could well be the Collins class on whose shoulders the weight of a nation will rest.
Submarines are complicated and finely- tuned machines and changes to their de- sign principles are not matters considered on a whim. Fuel, transit duration and en- durance on station are but some of the fac- tors to be considered in a submarine design and, with different requirements, come dif- ferent solutions.
The solutions that are reached are the re- sult of a careful balancing act between all of the technical options. What is suitable for a small, short-range submarine that will use its battery as the last option is not necessar- ily right for a large, ocean-going submarine that needs to use its battery throughout a 15-20-day transit.
The SIA is satisfied that Australia’s sub- marine plans are, generally, on the right track. Those who agree and disagree will be among the presenters at our next annual conference – the 5th Submarine, Science, Technology and Engineering Conference 2019 (SubSTEC5) – which is taking place in Fremantle from 18-21 November.
92 | October 2019 |
“Submarines are
complicated and finely tuned machines.”